Split loop thimble



Oct. 7, 1958 F. R. PERSON 2,855,231 SPLIT LOOP THIMBLE Filed Aug. 51. 1955 m vs/v TOR. FRANK R. PERSON,

his Attorney.

uww-

United States Patent SPLIT LOOP TI-lllVIBLE Frank R. Person, New Haven, Conn., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application August 31, 1955, Serial No. 531,764

2 Claims. (Cl. 287-81) This invention relates to a split loop thimble and more particularly to a thimble for supporting a loop in the end of a wire rope. Thimbles commonly used for this purpose are such that it is necessary to pass the rope around the thimble prior to formation of the loop therein. Slings with loops therein are normally provided by the manufacturer and it is necessary to ship the thimbles back to the manufacturer if it is desired to reuse the same. In many instances the cost of shipment and inconvenience involved are such that the user discards the thimble. In either case additional costs are involved.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a thimble which can be installed and dismantled from a loop previously formed in a wire rope.

This and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the thimble of my invention;

Figure 2 is an elevation of the thimble of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the thimble of Figure 1 with a rope in place; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one element of the thimble.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numerals 2 and 4 indicate the rope supporting sections of thimble 6 of my invention. Each of the sections 2 and 4 have side walls 8 and bottom wall 10 forming a rope receiving channel 12. The side walls 8 of section 2 flare outwardly from the center of the rope groove and also from the bottom of the rope groove to form spaced cars 14. Side walls 8 of section 4 are not flared outwardly from the longitudinal center of the rope groove but are provided with outwardly extending cars 16 at one end which are otherwise shaped like cars 14. The ears 16 are received within the ears 14 and when assembled the ears 14 and 16 have aligned openings 18 and 20 arranged in a plane substantially perpendicular to the channels 12. The openings or holes 18 and 20 are of such size as to receive a pin 22 having a head 24 at one end and a hole 26 at the other end for receiving a cotter pin 28. From the ears 14 and 16 the sections 2 and 4 extend in a circular are 30 to a straight portion 32 which extends toward the straight portion of the other section. The remote end of each of the straight 2,855,231 Patented Oct. 7, 1958 sections 32 is provided with spaced ears 34 having aligned holes 36 therethrough. The ears 34 of the sections 2 and 4 face each other and a tie bar 38 extends between and is received in the openings between the ears. The tie bar 38 is provided with spaced holes for receiving cotter pins 42 which also extend through holes 36 to hold the ends of the sections 2 and 4 in spaced relationship.

When a wire rope R having a loop L therein is received from the manufacturer the sections 2 and 4 are separately placed within the loop with the rope R in the grooves 12. The two parts are assembled as shown in Figure 3, the pin 22 inserted in the openings 18 and 20 and the cotter pin 28 placed in the hole 26 of pin 22. Tie bar 38 is placed between the ears 34 and locked in place by means of cotter pins 42. When the rope of the sling becomes worn and is ready for discarding the thimble 6 is disassembled and will be ready for assembly in another sung.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A split loop thimble for supporting a rope comprising two rope supporting sections, each section having an outwardly facing rope receiving channel therein, said sections being arranged in overlapping relationship at one end and in spaced relationship at the other end, an ear on each of said sections at their overlapping end extending radially outwardly beyond said channel, said ears having aligned holes therein extending in a plane substantially perpendicular to said channels, a pin extending through said aligned holes beyond the rope and pivotally connecting said sections, and a tie bar extending betweenand detachably connected to said sections at said other end.

2. A split loop thimble for supporting a rope comprising two rope supporting sections, each section having an outwardly facing rope receiving channel therein, one of said sections having spaced ears at one end extending radially outwardly beyond said channel, the other of said sections having ears extending radially outwardly between said first named ears, said ears having aligned holes therein extending in a plane substantially perpendicular to said channels, a pin extending through said aligned holes beyond the rope and pivotally connecting said sections, each of said sections having spaced cars at the end thereof opposite said first and second named ears, and a tie bar extending between and detachably fastened to said last named ears.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 175,353 Johnsen Mar. 28, 1876 1,454,437 Geils May 8, 1923 2,551,065 Speer May 1, 1951 2,600,417 Morris June 17, 1952 2,630,074 Grabinski Mar. 3, 1953 

